Upgrade the words that hold your band down.
The commonest words, good, big, important, are the ones examiners see most and reward least. Type one below to see stronger alternatives laddered by band, with the collocations and an example so you use them accurately, not just swap them in.
How the bands work here. The labels are a rough guide to how advanced and precise a word sounds in academic English, not a promise of a score. What actually lifts your band is choosing the right word and using it accurately and naturally. Reach for a Band 8 word only when you can place it correctly: a well-chosen Band 7 word beats a Band 8 word forced into the wrong collocation.
→Vocabulary, in context
A better word in the wrong place still costs you marks.
This tool gives you the range. Using it accurately, with the right collocation and register, is what earns the lexical resource mark.
The topic vocabulary banks show these words at work across common IELTS themes, band by band. In a lesson we look at your own writing and speaking and fix the word choices that are quietly holding your band down. Lessons are £20 for fifty minutes, one to one, in proper British English; the first step is a free introduction.